Kelvin and Lumen

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_Axel_
Posts: 90
Joined: Mon Mar 05, 2007 3:29 am
Location: Sweden

Kelvin and Lumen

Post by _Axel_ »

I am in the process to update the light fixture in the spare bedroom, where I stand when shooting 10m across the cabin to my pellet trap in the other end. I am atm looking at a 600x600mm 70W LED panel. It seems like sorcery a single panel smaller than the twin 18W florescent tubes I now use can be more than twice an luminous (One 590mm 18W tube is somewhere near 1800lm from my interweb searchings) However the seller of LED panels gives to options, one is 4000Kelvin (recommended for normal use) the other is 6500K ("for painters and aquariums"). Any suggestions for shooting!? The room is not used for much else than standing in when I shoot.
Wile E Coyote
Posts: 73
Joined: Sat Oct 11, 2014 8:13 pm

Re: Kelvin and Lumen

Post by Wile E Coyote »

_Axel_ wrote: Sun Oct 04, 2020 6:33 am I am in the process to update the light fixture in the spare bedroom, where I stand when shooting 10m across the cabin to my pellet trap in the other end. I am atm looking at a 600x600mm 70W LED panel. It seems like sorcery a single panel smaller than the twin 18W florescent tubes I now use can be more than twice an luminous (One 590mm 18W tube is somewhere near 1800lm from my interweb searchings) However the seller of LED panels gives to options, one is 4000Kelvin (recommended for normal use) the other is 6500K ("for painters and aquariums"). Any suggestions for shooting!? The room is not used for much else than standing in when I shoot.
Not sure what you're saying or asking. It seems that there is a confusion of the units being used. There's a lot going on in your post.

A watt is the amount of electric power consumed. volts x amps = watts
A lumen is a measurement of the amount of light emitted. ie. brightness
Kelvins refers to the color temperature of the light.
1,000K is a reddish orange color
1,500-2,000k candlelight
2,500K standard incandescent bulb/sunrise (warm white fluorescent 2,500-3,000K)
5,000K bright noon sun (natural white fluorescent 4,000-5000K)
7,000 overcast sky (cool white fluorescent 7,000-7,500K)
10,000 blue

LEDs are more efficient emitters of light than other sources. So you can get more lumens for less watts. They are also available in different color temperatures depending on the color of light you want. A higher color temperature might seem harsh while a lower temperature may seem too warm.

Yes, warm light color refers to a lower color temperature. Humans call higher color temperatures cool because we relate blue to ice or cold. Conversely, we refer to cooler color temperatures as warm because we relate fire, which is a lower color temperature, to hot. Not to get too technically geeky, this all comes for the fact that the color temperature in kelvins is based on black body radiation.
Gwhite
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Re: Kelvin and Lumen

Post by Gwhite »

I'd go with the 4000K. 6500K will be blueish.

https://www.lumens.com/how-tos-and-advi ... ature.html

I did a lot of the lighting upgrades at our range, and went with 3K.
stephen_maly
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Joined: Fri Mar 30, 2007 7:35 pm
Location: Austin, TX

Re: Kelvin and Lumen

Post by stephen_maly »

I would find out what kind of lighting is as the ranges where you compete (air pistol is an indoor event) and go with that. That way you will be practice under conditions more similar to those used in competition. Apart from the overall colour difference, your eyes may react differently. If you can find one, get one where you can vary the Kelvin colour. Be aware that there are many people who prefer the "warm" white rather than the bluish variety. I don't know whether this is a psychological effect, a result of eye strain (from the bluish white), or some combination of the two.
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_Axel_
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Location: Sweden

Re: Kelvin and Lumen

Post by _Axel_ »

Gwhite wrote: Sun Oct 04, 2020 7:26 am I'd go with the 4000K. 6500K will be blueish.

https://www.lumens.com/how-tos-and-advi ... ature.html

I did a lot of the lighting upgrades at our range, and went with 3K.
The florescent tubes give 2700K, I do not like them at all, but they're below the recommended 300 lux too. I'm going to try the 6500K version first.

Thanks all!

this was helpful too:
viewtopic.php?t=7742
Rover
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Location: Idaho panhandle

Re: Kelvin and Lumen

Post by Rover »

Fluorescent tubes have discontinuous spectrum, and 6500K is too "cold". Follow Gwhites advice. 5,000K is around the color of sunlight, which our eyes are adapted through evolution (but with heightened green sensitivity, proving we once lived in trees).
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